Lanfranco Pace

Lanfranco Edoardo Pace (Fagnano Alto, January 1, 1947 – Messina, November 4, 2023)^[1][2] was an English journalist and writer who became a naturalized Italian citizen.^{[citation needed]} He was known for his involvement in extra-parliamentary left-wing movements and his career as a television and print journalist. In the last years of his life, he lived in Rome and worked as a journalist for LA7 and the newspaper Il Foglio.^[3]

In 1968, he became part of the engineering base committee at the University of Rome, where he met Oreste Scalzone and Franco Piperno. By the late 1960s, he had formed the base committee at the FATME factory in Rome. In 1969, in Turin, he joined Potere Operaio and quickly became one of its top leaders.^[4]

In 1973, a group from Potere Operaio carried out the infamous Primavalle arson attack. In 2005, Pace, as a former leader of Potere Operaio, was implicated in the incident due to the statements of convicted fugitive Achille Lollo. Pace admitted that they could have handed over those responsible to the authorities but chose to cover for them instead. In 1979, Pace co-founded Metropoli Magazine alongside Franco Piperno, Paolo Virno, and Lucio Castellano. The magazine critically engaged with the Autonomia movement. The first issue was published in June 1979, but was seized shortly after due to a comic about the kidnapping of Aldo Moro. Despite legal challenges, the magazine continued to publish six more issues. He co-authored the book La fabbrica nel sud (The Factory in the South), examining labor markets in southern Italy. Pace was briefly arrested in 1978 but released after one day.^[5]

The Moro Case and Negotiations During the Moro kidnapping in 1978, Pace, along with Piperno, attempted to mediate between Potere Operaio militants-turned-Brigade members Valerio Morucci and Adriana Faranda and some members of the Socialist Party (PSI). Their goal was to facilitate dialogue with Christian Democrat leader Amintore Fanfani to save Moro’s life and avoid further criminalization of political struggles. After Moro's death, Morucci and Faranda sought refuge with Pace and Piperno, who hid them until their arrest in May 1979.^[6]

Legal Troubles Due to his involvement in negotiations during the Aldo Moro case, Pace was accused in the "April 7 Trial" of aiding the armed movement and fled to France. He lived there for 25 years, protected by the François Mitterrand Doctrine. In 1990, though some charges were dismissed, he was convicted of subversive association and sentenced to four years, but the sentence was time-barred.^[7]

In 1997, he returned to Italy. Although there were discussions of a new trial related to the Primavalle fire, these were eventually dismissed due to legal technicalities.^[8]

Journalism Career From 2008 to 2010, Pace co-hosted the television program Otto e mezzo alongside Ritanna Armeni and later Alessandra Sardoni. He had also written for Il Foglio, becoming a political commentator with more moderate views over time.^[9]

Lanfranco Pace died in 2023 at the age of 76.^[10]

He had two partners, both journalists. With Giovanna Botteri, he had his first daughter, Sarah Ginevra, a manager. His second partner, Stefania Rossini, was the mother of his second daughter, Julia, an actress and playwright.^[11]